U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 describes in detail a connector receptacle of a type which is intended for use in the telephone industry. The receptacle described in this patent comprises an insulating housing having a plug-receiving end and a plug-receiving opening extending into the plug-receiving end. A plurality of circular openings extend through the housing from the plug-receiving end to the rearward end of the housings and contact springs extending from these circular openings diagonally into the plug-receiving opening so that when a plug is inserted into the receptacle, the contact members on the plug, will engage the contact springs. The contact springs are in the form of wires and are connected by means of crimped electrical connections to lead wires. These crimped connections are contained in the circular openings in the housing and the lead wires extend from the circular openings and away from the housing at the rearward end thereof. The commonly used type of connector plug which is intended to be mated with connector receptacles of the type described above is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,320.
The connector receptacle described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 has been widely adopted in the telephone industry and it is being used to an increasing extent on equipment other than telephone equipment, for example, data processing equipment which may be installed adjacent to a telephone exchange, small computers, and similar equipment.
The use of these connector receptacles in such related equipment often requires that the receptacle be mounted on a circuit board, but the connector receptacle shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 cannot be readily or easily connected to conductors on a circuit board. The present invention, in accordance with the aspect thereof, is directed to the achievement of a connector receptacle capable of being mated with connector plugs of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,320 and which can be mounted on a circuit board with the conductors in the receptacle soldered directly to the conductors on the circuit board.
The wire spring contacts used in connector receptacles of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 engage the terminals in a plug connector only along a single line of electrical contact and while this contact arrangement is entirely satisfactory for voice signals, it would be desirable to provide greater contact area in connectors used under other circumstances. The present invention is therefore directed to the achievement of a connector of the general type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 having stamped and formed contact members which provide a substantial area of contact with the terminals of an inserted plug.
The invention is also directed to the achievement of an improved manufacturing method for connectors of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,497 and particularly an improved method of assembling the conductors (spring contacts and adjacent conductors) to the connector housing which avoids the necessity of forming a crimped connection to a contact spring wire.
The herein disclosed embodiment of the invention comprises an insulating housing having a plug-receiving end, a rearward end and having a plug-receiving opening extending into the plug-receiving end. A conductor-receiving opening extends through the housing parallel to, and adjacent to, the plug-receiving opening and stamped and formed conductors contained in the housing have intermediate portions disposed in this opening. First end portions of the conductors are reversely bent at the plug-receiving end and extend diagonally into the plug-receiving opening so that they will engage complementary terminals in a connector plug upon insertion of the plug into the plug-receiving opening. The other ends of the conductors extend from the conductor-receiving opening at the rearward end of the housing and across an apron which is integral with, and which extends from, the rearward end of the housing. This apron has positioning and retaining means thereon which serves precisely to locate the conductors and to prevent the intermediate portions of the conductors in the conductor-receiving opening from moving laterally.
Connector receptacles in accordance with the invention are manufactured by providing a housing as a one-piece injection molded part and manufacturing the terminals in the form of a continuous strip with the terminals extending in side-by-side relationship between two carrier strips. The terminals are assembled to the housing by cutting off a section of the continuous strip (including the carrier strips) and inserting the terminals of the section through the conductor-receiving opening in the housing. The carrier strips are then severed from the conductors and the first end portions of the conductors are reversely bent so that they extend into the plug-receiving opening. The remaining ends, the second ends, of the conductors are formed and engaged with the conductor positioning and retaining means on the apron so that they will be retained in precise locations in, and on, the housing.